Amicum
by anathemaybe
Summary: Anders and Cullen run into one another more than either would like in Kirkwall, but at least they have a mutual acquaintance to discuss... Gen fic with eventual discussion of f!Amell/Cullen, f!Amell/Anders, and (Maker help me) f!Amell/Justice
1. Chapter 1

Another day, another insane blood mage rooted out. It was enough to make Hawke miss running from the darkspawn and needing to be saved by a dragon. Just _once_ she'd like to find an apostate who wouldn't turn into a demon and further convince everyone that all mages were evil. Still, the knight-captain seemed like a reasonable enough man for a templar, so when things like this needed to be reported he was the one she reported to.

"Bloody templars…" Hawke muttered, shifting uncomfortably. She loathed being anywhere near the circle. "I swear, if I could find a way to make the Gallows float off into the Amaranthine Sea, I would."

"That'd require quite a bit of magic, though, wouldn't it?" Merrill asked, puppy dog eyes wide as usual. "I can't imagine you could, even if you had all the other mages to help you. And I'm not sure they'd want to –"

"She's joking, Daisy," Varric gently interrupted.

"Oh. Well, that does make a bit more sense," Merrill said sheepishly.

Hawke sighed and searched the courtyard until her eyes fell on Cullen. Just the man she'd been looking for. "Cullen," she began, "I need to talk to you about –"

"Anders?" the man asked, disbelievingly looking behind her and to her fourth companion.

"Cullen," the mage replied, and Hawke finally realized why Anders had been so complacent about going to the Gallows when she mentioned Knight-Captain Cullen.

"You're in Kirkwall? Are the Wardens here?"

Anders shrugged, looking half-amused. "Not... exactly. Unless you count me as 'the wardens'. How did you know I'm a Grey Warden?" Hawke couldn't help but notice his use of the present tense towards Cullen - not a bad way to avoid the circle, even if he didn't consider himself a Warden anymore.

"Templars talk. Apparently you had the honor of being the first recruited through the Rite of Conscription after the Blight. I didn't think Wardens were sent alone?"

"They're not," Anders replied. "I may be acting as a... free agent."

Cullen raised an eyebrow. "So... in addition to escaping the circle, you decided to leave the Wardens, too?"

"You should have met the Orlesian Commander who took over after Solona left," said Anders, crossing his arms. "Real piece of work, even gave away my cat. So I came here."

"Amell left the Wardens?" He asked, not hiding his surprise well, and Varric and Hawke exchanged glances. There was a story behind that tone, and Varric was quite determined to get to the bottom of it.

"I don't know where she is now, if that's what you're thinking," Anders responded, one eyebrow raised. "And it's not like you're one to talk. She went crazy looking for you after Greagoir sent you away, you know."

"She did?" he asked, although none of them were quite sure if his question was hopeful or reluctant.

"Maker, it was all she talked about. 'Oh, I hope Cullen is all right. I feel so guilty –'"

Cullen cleared his throat, looking thoroughly discomfited at the thought. "Perhaps we could continue this conversation at another point in time," he managed, giving Anders a pointed look. The apostate smirked at him.

"Right," Hawke interrupted, a little put-out that her companion had gotten to speak so much more than she did; she was always the one to steer conversations. "Getting back to the important bit about the blood mages…"


	2. Chapter 2

The next time they bumped into one another was at the Hanged Man, a few days later. Anders arrived a few minutes early for the weekly diamondback game to find Cullen finishing a tirade at some templar who apparently decided to get drunk on duty. The dumb sod ducked out of the bar, tail tucked thoroughly between his legs.

Anders noted how irritated Cullen looked; he completely changed from the templar who used to stutter at Solona in the halls. From what she said, he'd been altered by his experience with the blood mages in the tower. Having used that time to successfully escape, Anders was fortunate enough to have avoided seeing Cullen like that first hand. He almost felt as though this Cullen was a stranger, albeit one he wanted to familiarize himself with.

"Cullen!" he exclaimed, clapping his shoulder and nearly making him jump.

"Anders," the Knight-Captain responded, looking a little discomfited. "Hello."

"Let me buy you a drink, we can catch up," he offered, wanting to get to know this new Cullen better. He'd always sort of liked Cullen, and he was fascinated by how much the man had changed in a few years.

"I should really head back to the Gallows," Cullen responded, the new, seemingly-ever present frown crossing his face. "I've got early duty in the morning –"

"One drink," he coaxed, trying to ignore the thoughts telling him **this is unproductive, we should not waste time – **_oh, shut up. You care about Solona, you want to make sure he's stable – _**Feelings for the Commander, beyond deep respect and perhaps admiration, are inappropriate. We must focus – **_doesn't mean you don't have them, you great blighter. Stop being a jealous prick and let me do this. _To his surprise, Justice fell silent.

Cullen paused. "I suppose one drink would be fine," he responded. Anders flagged Nora down, ordering two drinks with a smile and leading Cullen over to a table. There was a short, uncomfortable silence.

"So... Kirkwall," Anders said, and Cullen half-smiled in a very self-conscious way.

"Kirkwall," he agreed. After a moment of no response from Anders, he continued, "After... Well, after. I couldn't stay in Kinloch Hold. Greagoir sent me to Greenfell for a bit, but I wasn't exactly suited to the Chantry. Too used to saving mages from themselves, I suppose. I told him as much and he sent me to the circle here. Said I'd do a lot of good here."

"I've always thought you were decent. Well, for a Templar."

"And I've always thought you were decent, for a mage who consistently thumbed his nose at Templars."

Anders' face darkened. "You know what the other templars are like," he said and Cullen nodded. He got the feeling Anders was about to go on some kind of rant, so he decided to head it off.

"Did Amell ever tell you what happened?" he asked, and for the first time, Anders realized the templar looked as worn and overworked as he did. "Exactly why I left the circle tower?"

"No," he responded truthfully, sparing Nora a quick thanks as she delivered their drinks. Solona had moped over it, mentioned there was something about a demon tormenting Cullen, but with what Anders heard about the state of the tower there wasn't anyone the demons hadn't tortured. He always wondered exactly what happened. Cullen contemplated in silence for a moment, staring into his drink.

"Did Amell tell you I was kept in a cage by a desire demon?" At Anders's nod, he continued, "It... appeared to me as her. As Amell." Anders must have looked as stunned as he felt, because Cullen chuckled darkly. "So she didn't tell you that part? Of course it was her who rescued me. After the time I spent there, even the real Solona was... ruined, in my mind. Her decision to save the mages seemed, at best, a naive move that would get us all killed, and at worst a willful decision by a maleficar to save her own kind. I felt as though no mage could be trusted, especially not if I couldn't trust her. I saw blood mages and abominations everywhere in the tower, from the First Enchanter to the apprentices. I…" He frowned, and Anders was beginning to understand why Solona had been so concerned with his fate. "Gregoir hoped that a change of country would help me. It didn't, at first. I still saw every mage as a blood mage." Bitterly amused, he said, "Meredith liked that. It's why I was promoted in so little time." Cullen shut his eyes. "I still can't forget what happened, but… I'm beginning to understand that Meredith may be… a bit harsh." He ran a gauntleted hand through his hair. "Maker, I was so cruel to her in the circle… I thought she'd gone mad, convincing them to let the other mages live. But the way some of the templars treat the mages here…" Cullen shut his eyes. "It's not as simple as I thought."Anders sat, silently stunned by Cullen's revelation and trying to take all of it in.

Cullen looked as though he wanted to say more, but he was cut off by Varric's arrival. The dwarf took a seat next to him.

"Knight-Captain, it's a pleasure to see you mingling with the common folk," Varric said, a genial smile on his face. Hawke, who looked entirely too much like her cousin, plopped down on Cullen's other side.

"You know, I've always wondered about my cousin. Second cousin. Whichever," Hawke said, smiling in the same way Amell always did when he caught her in the library after hours.

"Right," Cullen responded, suddenly very uncomfortable. "Well, I suppose I'll tell you another time. I'm needed at the Gallows. Serah Hawke, Varric. Anders." And with that he was gone.

"I thought we had him for sure," Hawke said, frowning at Varric as she took Cullen's untouched drink and helped herself.

"Next time," Varric swore. "I have a primary source for stories about the Hero of Ferelden. The Knight-Captain's not getting away that easily."


	3. Chapter 3

Anders found it a little too convenient that Hawke was never available when he came to drop off his manifesto; Bohdan was apologetic, as usual, but firm in his assertion that Hawke simply could not be interrupted from whatever vital task was at hand. Anders thanked him and turned to go. After Bohdan shut the front door, Anders blew out the candle that burned in the torch by her door and tucked the latest edition there. Someone was sure to find it soon enough.

As he headed back to Dark Town, a voice called out, "Anders?" and he turned. It was a templar, and his hand was already halfway to his staff before he realized it was just Cullen. He relaxed, meeting the man halfway.

"What are you doing in Hightown?" Anders asked.

"Visiting the Chantry," Cullen replied, frowning briefly before turning his attention back to Anders. "You?"

"Came to see Hawke," he replied, and the two began to walk together. "She never seems to be home, though."

"She does seem to be busier than the Order and the City Guard combined," Cullen agreed, sounding impressed with the woman.

"You know, Cullen, they may be related, but Hawke isn't really that much like Solona," Anders chastised, making the tips of Cullen's ears turn red.

"I'm not – I don't see Hawke like –" After a moment of sputtering, Cullen managed to collect himself. "I see your sense of humor hasn't been changed by becoming a Grey Warden," he said dryly, giving Anders a look. Anders grinned at him.

"I see your sense of being rendered speechless at the mention of a pretty girl hasn't been changed by moving to Kirkwall," he shot back. Cullen shook his head, but he almost grinned.

"It… is nice to see a familiar face," he said. Anders nodded. It was strange. From what Solona said, Cullen was almost mad with his anti-mage sentiment. This Cullen… Well, considering the number of apostates he rounded up and imprisoned, wasn't exactly a hero of the people. But much of the time he seemed to be the only thing between the more insane templars and all the mages being killed or made tranquil. Not a paragon of freedom, but not the strict mess of a templar he'd heard about.

"I never thought I'd see the day a templar would be happy to see me," Anders responded. He paused, realizing they were at the edge of town and very reluctant to have Cullen take note of where he went after this. "It was good to run into you," Anders said, looking to make his getaway.

Cullen, surprisingly quick to divine his intent, couldn't help but smirk. "Don't want the templar to see where you live?" he asked, and he could tell that was exactly what Anders meant. "I already know where your clinic is," he said dismissively. At Anders's incredulous look, he couldn't help but laugh. "An ex-grey warden apostate from Ferelden healing refugees… Honestly, who else could it have been?"

"The templars know where I am?" Anders managed, looking absolutely horrified. The look sobered Cullen immediately.

"No, not exactly. We just know you're operating out of Lowtown or Darktown. Meredith wanted to find you, at first, but.. ah... I may have had something to do with stopping her." Anders' questioning look prompted him to continue, "I told her if we were to arrest a Grey Warden, we'd have to contend with the Warden-Commander, who also happens to be the Hero of Ferelden, and a woman with vast political influence who is very pro-mage, being one herself. I convinced her it might be best to leave you alone for the time being. Maker knows how long she'll listen, though."

Anders looked almost touched, although he made a mental note that a floating clinic may soon be safer than a stationary one. "Thank you," he said.

Cullen shook his head. "I didn't do it for you," he responded, and Anders nodded, both knowing full well it was a favor to a woman who almost certainly would never know.

"Still… I appreciate it."

The two men turned to go their separate ways, but Cullen paused. "Anders…" he said, and the mage turned to look at him. "I can't protect you forever. The circle here may not have your phylactery, but if you don't keep your head down, there won't be anything I can do for you. The anti-mage sentiment is… building, to say the least."

Anders nodded, trying to ignore his outrage at the perceived threat. It was becoming all the more difficult to differentiate between his own feelings and those of Justice. "Understood."


End file.
